NASSCO launches huge Navy cargo ship

One of the largest shipbuilding programs in local history ended with a big splash Saturday night when the last of 14 cargo ships built for the Navy by General Dynamics NASSCO slid into San Diego Bay as 7,000 spectators roared and fireworks arced overhead.

The launch of the Cesar Chavez wrapped up an 11-year, $6.2 billion effort to improve the Navy’s ability to deliver supplies and ammunition across the globe. The last time NASSCO built more vessels for the Navy was during the early 1970s, when it constructed 17 landing ships.

Saturday’s launch also appears to have made maritime history. The 689-foot Cesar Chavez apparently will be the final large vessel in the U.S. to ride the ways — or support rails — into the water. NASSCO, the last major shipyard still using the practice, plans to simply float future vessels into the bay to save time and money.

(Launch video by Gary Robbins, UT-Sandiego)

“I am feeling a lot of emotion tonight. I feel very proud,” said Helen Chavez, widow of the farm worker turned labor and civil-rights leader.

“Cesar Chavez was a great American, and this ship is a fitting tribute to his life and achievements,” said Rear Adm. David Lewis, who oversees shipbuilding for a variety of Navy vessels.

The launch focused attention on NASSCO during a time when the company is trying to land new work to replace the Navy cargo-ship construction.

The last major shipbuilder on the West Coast is now building the first of three Mobile Landing Platform ships, a new type of Navy auxiliary vessel. The shipyard also might get a contract for a fourth MLP, but it has been struggling to land new contracts to build large commercial ships to complement its Navy ship repair program.

Champagne flys as Mrs. Helen Chavez, widow of Cesar Chavez, christens the ship that bears her husband's name at the launching of the USNS Cesar Chavez Saturday night at the NASSCO shipyard in San Diego.
— Earnie Grafton

Champagne flys as Mrs. Helen Chavez, widow of Cesar Chavez, christens the ship that bears her husband's name at the launching of the USNS Cesar Chavez Saturday night at the NASSCO shipyard in San Diego.
— Earnie Grafton

NASSCO President Fred Harris said he’s “cautiously optimistic” that the company will receive one or more contracts to build large commercial cargo ships by the end of the year. Such work would stabilize employment at NASSCO, which has 3,200 workers, and lead to modest growth in 2013.

“Do I have a contract in hand? Not yet,” Harris said. “Am I working with shipowners? You bet. Do I think I will have a commercial contract shortly? You bet.”

The shipyard has gone through many ups and downs since it opened as California Iron Works in 1905. The yard did especially well during World War II, building barges for the Army. After those contracts ran out, the company, which changed its name to National Steel and Shipbuilding Co., or NASSCO, in 1949, switched to mainly building tuna seiners and shrimp boats.

The military returned as a primary customer in the mid-1950s; NASSCO spent years building tugs and cargo and passenger ships for the Army. But the company also diversified, winning contracts to build large oil and cargo tankers for the commercial sector. By 1997, NASSCO grew to have 5,500 workers. A year later, it was acquired by General Dynamics.

The company’s fortunes seemed particularly bright a decade ago. NASSCO had started building 14 Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ships for the Navy, and it had won contracts for nine commercial tankers. But four of those tankers were canceled, forcing the yard to downsize.

The 689-foot USNS Cesar Chavez has a range of about 14,000 miles and can travel at a speed of about 20 knots.
— Nelvin C. Cepeda

The 689-foot USNS Cesar Chavez has a range of about 14,000 miles and can travel at a speed of about 20 knots.
— Nelvin C. Cepeda

The Lewis and Clark program also got off to a rough start, mainly because the company had to start building the ships before the final designs had been drawn. That led to setbacks that were resolved by Harris, who devised a way to standardize the construction. Soon, NASSCO was winning praise for the efficiency with which it built the ships from the Navy, and the company is seen as a valuable employer.

The economic impact of the program wasn’t just internal. The hundreds of outside companies that work with NASSCO have also profited.

NASSCO workers walk past the stern of the USNS Cesar Chavez on May 2, just three days before the ship was launched into San Diego Bay. — Nelvin C. Cepeda

+Read Caption

NASSCO workers walk past the stern of the USNS Cesar Chavez on May 2, just three days before the ship was launched into San Diego Bay.
— Nelvin C. Cepeda

One of those firms — specialty contractor Performance Contracting Inc. — added 275 employees just to perform the work that the program created for it, former owner Pat Fulton said. On the flip side, the end of the line has led to layoffs for more than 100 workers at Performance Contracting.

“It accounted for a sizable growth in our overall company,” Fulton said. “It was one of the largest contributors to the growth of PCI over the last 10 years.”

The USNS Cesar Chavez cost about $500 million, and was completed under budget and finished weeks ahead of schedule. — Nelvin C. Cepeda

+Read Caption

The USNS Cesar Chavez cost about $500 million, and was completed under budget and finished weeks ahead of schedule.
— Nelvin C. Cepeda

NASSCO employees who have been with the company since the cargo ship program began said they are experiencing a range of emotions now that the line has been completed. All are proud of their work, particularly with how they quickly overcame the defects in the early ships.

“I definitely have a sense of pride that I was able to be a part of building these ships,” said Angel Zepeda, 36, a Barrio Logan native who has worked at NASSCO for 16 years and has risen to become an assistant superintendent. “These ships are going to travel to every corner of the world at one point or another. They’re going to help the less fortunate, and they support our military forces.”

Others are sad that an era has come to an end.

“I wish we had a longer contract with these ships,” said Dino Miras, 61, a mechanical outfitter who worked 33 years at NASSCO. “We love these ships. It was a great contract.”

Jesus Rojas, 38, an 18-year veteran and second-generation employee of the company, said many of the workers are pleased that the last ship has been named after Cesar Chavez. Rojas, a steel manager who calls his work area “the heart of NASSCO,” is one of about 2,000 Latino workers in the shipyard.

“As a Latino, it is gratifying to see one of my own recognized,” Rojas said. “But what is most important is that Cesar Chavez was a human-rights advocate, and everyone should be proud, regardless of color or nationality.”

THE CESAR CHAVEZ

Name: Commemorates the late labor and civil rights leader Cesar Chavez, who served in the Navy.

• The Sacagawea rescued 10 Iraqi citizens from a sinking coastal tanker in the Central Persian Gulf in 2008

• The Alan Shepard provided immediate humanitarian support to residents of Alamagan and Agrihan, South Pacific islands that were devastated by a super typhoon in 2009

• The Sacagawea provided food, supplies and humanitarian assistance cargo to U.S. Navy ships during the response to a major earthquake that devastated Haiti in 2010

• The Lewis and Clark provided underway replenishments to ships of the Peleliu Amphibious Ready Group in the Arabian Sea as they supported humanitarian relief efforts in Pakistan in the wake of epic monsoons in 2010

• The Charles Drew provided humanitarian assistance and civic assistance in the Pacific Ocean and Far East during Pacific Partnership 2011

• The Matthew Perry delivered more than 200 pallets of humanitarian and disaster relief cargo to guided-missile destroyer McCampbell during Operation Tomadachi, the relief efforts in Japan following devastating tsunamis in 2011

• The Carl Brashear and Richard E. Byrd provided additional support to U.S. Navy ships during Operation Tomadachi in 2011

• The Alan Shepard served as a staging platform for Marines to train in real-world visit, board, search and seizure during exercise Valiant Shield 2010, which was held off Guam and the Republic of Palau. The exercise tested the U.S. military’s ability to detect, locate, track and engage enemy forces at sea

• The Wally Schirra and the Alan Shepard participated in Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training, a multinational cooperation and interoperability exercise with dive familiarization training in Indonesia, Philippines and Singapore in 2011 Talisman Sabre 2011

• The Robert E. Peary served as a sea-based platform for Marine takeoff and landing of the MV-22 Osprey loaded with supplies during Bold Alligator 2012, the largest amphibious exercise in a decade